Numerical simulation of diffusion process in T-shaped micromixer using Shan-Chen Lattice Boltzmann Method

A multicomponent Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) scheme is employed to study the performance of a T-shaped micromixer with obstacles in its main channel. This solution was proposed in order to speed-up the diffusive mixing process which occurs at very low-Reynolds flow regime. The multicomponent LBM was firstly validated against well-documented cases like the simulation of a static droplet and the layered two-dimensional flow in a channel. Then two-dimensional simulations of the T-mixer are conducted with different flow rates and obstacle layouts demonstrating the improvement of the device mixing efficiency induced by this solution. In addition, the results show a very good agreement with a previous study in which a commercial code was adopted and provide guidelines to conveniently place the obstacles in a T-shape micromixer.